RP:Snack Or Toy?

Part of the Do You Believe In Magic? Arc

Summary: Congrats, Raiez! Another mage for the pile! Those vampires are gonna crack him open like a lobster! :D

Path to the North

Raiez had quite the dilemma. There were two vampires in her cave, and only mages that she intended to keep alive form them to salivate over. She needed fresh victims for the pair. But at the same time, every time she came near Xalious, there were just so many tempting things to snag for her hoard. What was a dragon to do?! Well, she supposed she could snag some regular folk from the wilderness. Bandits and hikers and the like. So far, she hadn't found a one. It was like a gargantuan, blue, reptilian thing stomping through the forest scared people away or something! Was it their way of calling her fat? Did they really think she was fat?! Oh no! She needed to go on a diet then. But later. Maybe after her next millennia-long nap. With a resigned sigh, she shrank down to her humanoid form. Maybe people would be less likely to run if she looked like them. Except, ya know, with a tail.

Linn was roaming somewhere deep in the Xalious mountains, far off the beaten path. Despite it no longer being a time of war, he still wore his mithril armor, pack, and other gear, as had become his custom, given those fights always would hit him in the back of the head if he didn’t. Every now and then he’d look over his shoulder to check if he was being followed, the attempts at stealth almost ironic given his conspicuous appearance. The only thing that saved him was just how far out in the middle of nowhere he was going, up and over cliffs and paths in a way that shouldn’t even be traversable. His track broke onto what could be called a hiking path somewhere along the way. Walking down it for a little bit he caught the sight of Raiez who had just shrunk down before immediately freezing and trying to back up and slip back away from sight. He didn’t even know this path led back to a more accessible place and was immediately was suspecting someone was on to the secret he had hidden in the mountains. Slowly, he backed away to the cliff he climbed to get onto this leg of the trail. Nope, nothing to see here, nothing to see here at all.

Raiez turned just in time to see the fleeing man in mithril. At first, all she had on her mind was feeding her vampires, but then the sensation took hold of her mind. The sensation of magic, of something out of the ordinary, emanated from this fellow who was trying to get away. She hadn't caught sight of the man's face, so she didn't know it was Linn, yet, but she decided to follow the fellow, regardless. As ever, she was getting distracted from what she was out here to do to begin with. Her tail swayed behind her excitedly as she hounded him, but as of yet, she gave no call to the fellow.

Linn tried to walk quietly as he could. It may have passed at a distance and on soft ground, but he couldn’t hear Raiez stalk him over his own boots clicking on the stone. Maybe he could act like it was nothing? Riiiiight. Not in that armor. Unable to get any indication he was being followed, he turned his head to steal a glance back. He was definitely being followed. Was that a tail? No time to dwell on that. Abruptly he decided to take a different way into the wild unknown, turning blindly around a rock-corner to try and break the line of sight. Aaaaand the path ends right there, leaving him cornered and almost falling straight down the cliffs, a skittering of gravel that seemed to go on and on forecasting the fate of anyone who kept going. He had to think fast, and so he went down with the gravel! Planting his hands against the rock face he jumped onto it, seeming to stick to it before sliding his way down, though chances are he wouldn’t get very far at all until Raiez caught up. And that damned clicking from his boots on the stone would keep giving him away anyway.

Raiez came upon the cliff shortly after Linn had jumped. She strolled to its edge and looked down, and lo' and behold! There he was, skidding down the side like some sort of armored ninja. She couldn't have that, not with the magic she sensed in him. Her arms went up and she began casting, a spell intended to stop the man in his tracks flowing from her lips. Her hands began to glow, and the moment she lowered them, that glow began its trek towards Linn as he descended.

Linn looked up and down to keep track of where he was going, and if the strange figure who saw him had followed. Seeing that glow snaking its way down towards him he began skidding a little faster, a load of mundane curses escaping his mouth in whispers. That glow eventually caught up with him though, and enveloped him with a rather particular ease, as if his magic had suddenly began to follow along with hers. And just like that, he stopped on the cliff, stuck to it like an awkward armored ninja for everyone to see. Those curses came back, just loud enough for the mash of sound to reach Raiez’s ears. Whatever he was saying, he didn’t sound happy about this.

Raiez blinked repeated at what reached her ears. My, such a mouth on this one. Not as bad as the lightning rod that was living in her cave, but still pretty foul. "What is it with men and their cursing? You'd think that elegance of language has been lost on this age." With a shake of her head, the dragon went about casting another spell, this one to pull the stuck man back up to the top of the cliff. Even as she was casting, she was moving to pull an empty jar from her satchel. She was using up one that was meant for her vampires' meals, but oh well. This fellow seemed worth it.

Linn silenced himself fairly quickly, trying to figure out how to counter whatever spell had taken a hold of him and expunge its influence. Of course, finding himself lifted back up, it was quickly becoming evident that the resulting fall would be… bad. Okay, make a story. Just a guy exploring the mountains, and what in the world was SHE doing here? And… he came up to Raiez to get a closer look at her and that tail, and the whole fabrication went right out the window. Suddenly, every detail began clicking in rapid succession as the story strung itself together. All he could manage at the sight of the dragon was a revolutionary “Oh.”

Raiez stared at the man. "Oh," he had said. It was -all- he had said. She clucked her tongue and looked away for a moment as she rolled her eyes. "From the magic that I can feel from you, I expected something more witty," she mumbled as she settled her eyes back on Linn and looked him over head-to-toe. "The armor is impressive on its own, but it's what's under the armor that seems to be drawing my attention," she murmured as her head cocked, a curious look overtaking her face. "I could just take the gear, but...No, no, better to take everything. I can study the gear later." She tapped a finger against her lips as she just stared at Linn, recognition still not dawning in her mind.

Linn was just stuck there, floating out over an abyss as Raiez made her remarks. Eventually he managed a sigh, realizing he was about to learn everything he wanted to know about these kidnappings. The catch was… he had to be one of them. Great. At her remark of what was under the armor he cocked his head as well with a twitch of the eye. No. Minds –out- of the gutter, please. He remained silent, directing a look that would kill if it could at the dragon as his mind was busy spinning over everything that was about to happen. He was going to have a –lot- to explain if he got out of this alive.

Raiez grinned at that look that was given her. "My, how fun you would have been if you had put up a fight. But alas, our time grows short, as I've a pair of pets that need food. So forgive me for not extending this into a parlay where I explain what I'm doing." Without further ado, the dragon fell into one, last spell, this one to shrink the armored man down to a size that would fit inside the jar in her hand. After the completion of her spell, she swiped the jar in a scooping motion to retrieve Linn. Only after the jar was tucked safely away did the woman turn back to a dragon and give out a grand roar.

Linn only huffed another sigh at his lack of fight. He knew when he had no way ou--- pets? FOOD? That look of panicked ‘not like this’ would flash through his eyes for a second at that statement before he got shrunk. Just as the halting and lifting of the enchanter was unusually easy, the shrinking seemed to create the same effect; even for the jar he looked small, maybe half the size the others went to, maybe a little more or less. But man, the surprise on his face in that moment as the world suddenly grew bigger around him! It belonged on a postcard or something, absolutely priceless. Once left in the privacy of the jar, he’d shudder as the roar reverberated through him before fishing through what he had with him still. Eventually he pulled something from a pouch he wore and kept it closed in his fist, craning his head over it almost as if making a prayer. He was pushing some kind of magic through it, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything here, whatever it was.

And so the dragon took off, her trophy in tow. She had completely forgotten about her original task of finding bandits for her vampires to snack on, but she felt she was heading home with a good capture. He would be an interesting addition to her collection. If the man thought the sight of the environment around him was breathtaking on the ground, what he would see from the air would be even better. If there was one good thing to come from being kidnapped by a dragon, at least it was the views.